A Tisket' A Tasket'
by Magali1
Summary: Danger: Absolute Silliness and Randomness. Ensemble piece; the girls bid on the guys' baskets which result in Tim getting an unlikely savior, Landry finally giving someone some peace, and Becky and Luke just...being Becky and Luke. Characters appearing are: Tami, Eric, Buddy, Mindy, Billy, Becky, Luke, Tim, Lyla, Tyra, Julie, Matt, and Landry. And Gracie and Stevie. One-Shot.


**A/N: **This is pure silliness. :) Enjoy.

* * *

**A Tisket', A Tasket', Bid on a Basket  
**

"This is a stupid thing, where the hell did Buddy Garrity get the idea for this?" Billy demanded, throwing a jar of jelly into the box he'd unearthed in the backyard in lieu of a picnic basket.

Tim shrugged, dropping a six-pack of beer into his box, which was an old beer case box. He opened up the fridge, inspecting its contents. There was nothing in here that he could put in a basket, so he just grabbed a bag of Cheetos from way back in the pantry, throwing it in with the beer. "All done," he decided.

"Garrity is not bidding on beer."

He scowled at his brother. Yeah, well, he doubted she'd bid on the basket anyway. She was back for her final spring break before graduating Vanderbilt. He didn't know why, it was her first time back since leaving freshman year. It had been a couple of awkward run-ins. The last one was when Tyra walked in and told him to make no plans for the weekend because she was 'in desperate need' since breaking up with her boyfriend. Lyla happened to be standing right there, which he suspected Tyra knew about and why she said it. Now there was this stupid charity thing that he'd gotten sucked into because of Buddy Garrity. "I think he got the idea from a movie," he said. He shrugged. "Oklahoma."

"The state?"

"The musical."

"How would you know that?"

Because Becky liked that shit and she'd been staying with him since moving out of her mother's house after she'd disappeared to Alaska. There had been too many movies he'd watched with her that he didn't understand but ended up with Becky sobbing uncontrollably as the credits rolled. They talked too fast usually for him to follow and were in black and white. "No reason," he chose to say. He looked up when the door opened. "Hey Mindy."

Mindy ignored him, pointing Stevie towards his play area. "Go get your Legos. Billy, take one of these." She left the stroller with the twins sitting in the center of the room, carrying a bag of groceries to the counter. She peered into the box. "Billy! I'm not bidding on this. Here." She began to replace its contents with things she'd bought. She looked at Tim's. "Beer? Lyla Garrity is not bidding on beer."

"I might," Tyra said, walking into the house. She grinned at him. "When are we hooking up?"

I don't know, he thought, sighing at Mindy's glare. He'd been threatened with bodily harm if he kept up this thing with Tyra, but he didn't want to get between sisters so he'd been ignoring both of them. "I don't know. I gotta' go." He grabbed the box, carrying it out to his car. He'd drop it off at the high school and then go home for a bit before the stupid bidding thing later.

Tyra appeared behind him. "What's wrong with you?" she demanded.

"Nothing."

"Usually when I come home from breaks you're the one who is waiting on me," she said, arching an eyebrow and cocked her hip, her arms crossed. A moment passed between them. That was true, but usually because he was just sick of not…he wasn't sure it was having no friends but it was nice when someone he knew came back to town. Since everyone else was all gone. He glanced away; I don't want to get into this right now. She cleared her throat. "You know Tim…I'm fine with us just ending. Again. I really am, to be honest this makes it easy on me, but…" she trailed off her, voice soft. "You could have just told me. Not string me along. I thought we were better than that."

"I'm not stringing you along," he mumbled. He just wasn't calling her back. He didn't like the idea of her wanting to use him while Lyla was wandering around because he wasn't sure what was going on with that. He sighed, rolling his eyes upward to her. "Fine. I'll make it easy for us both. I don't want to do this anymore."

"Fine," she said. She seemed hurt for a brief moment and then flashed a painful smile. "I should have known that once she came back things would be different."

That wasn't it. Damnit. He narrowed his eyes, quiet. "You don't know what you're talking about."

She nodded, clearly disagreeing with him. "I think I do Tim. I think this is high school but the roles are reversed and I'm the one using you, but that's fine. That's fine because I'm going to step away from this like I had planned after this visit, and I realize that in the end? This is high school again and I think that she's just going to ruin your life, but oh well. I've got better things to worry about." She turned off, walking back to the house. Great. Now Mindy would see she was upset, even if she claimed she wasn't. Would blame him. Billy would get blamed somewhere alone the way and get kicked out and end up on his couch.

Shit, he thought, shoving the truck into gear. He backed out and went to the high school to drop off the damn basket for this stupid thing. There was already a pile of them on the stage set up in the football stadium. Why do I get sucked in, he felt like yelling. He'd become Buddy Garrity's go-to guy and now here he was, buying into these charades. "Tim Riggins!"

He turned, hearing the high-pitched call of his name, stopping to wait for Becky to run after him, wearing four-inch sandals and carrying a perfectly wrapped basket in her hands. He frowned. Her basket-maker certainly wasn't the crafting type. "Where'd you get that?"

"Luke."

"Why's he not dropping this off?" He plucked at the pink and white polka dot ribbon tied around the wicker basket. "Did he seriously pack this?"

She cocked her head, as if to say 'why not?' "He's in the Army, Tim. He knows how to tie ropes and stuff to keep from dying in the woods or something, I don't know, he can certainly tie a bow." She tossed her hair out of her eyes. "And in answer do your question, he's off catching up with some buddies," Becky said, leaning forward a little and gasping. "Ah! Cramp in my foot, cramp in my foot, hang on…" She leaned against him, pulling at her sandal and moving her foot up and down. "Ow! Here." She set the sandal on top of the box, frowning into it. "What's in your basket, beer?"

"Tim's not the picnicking type, now is he?" They both looked up at the quiet voice, seeing Lyla walking towards them. She was holding a clipboard and wearing a Dillon Panthers t-shirt. There was a '33' on the pocket over her left breast. He immediately looked at it and then her. She glanced at it and cleared her throat, cocking her head. "Only one I had left."

"Stole it from me," he corrected. He smiled, in spite of himself. "What are you doing here?"

"Checking in baskets for my dad and the Boosters." She rolled her eyes. "It's what happens when you claim you're bored and hanging around the bar. You have one?"

Becky hopped on one foot. "Yup! Mine is Luke Cafferty. I'll bid on it."

"It's open to everyone Becks," he reminded her. He thought it was hilarious, since she had an admirer. He glanced over at the table, where the football team were helping to set the baskets up. He grinned. "Look at that…" He waved. "Hey Smith!"

And he deserved that kick to his knee, he thought, buckling slightly when she growled at him. "Shut up!" Smith Gregson, one of the running backs, waved at Becky, pointing to her and then to the basket, nodding and stuck his thumb up. She growled again. "I can't believe you! Stop egging him on!" He giggled, because it was hilarious at how in love the 16-year old was with Becky, completely oblivious to the fact that she was psychotic. As well as engaged.

He grinned. At least someone else had difficulties in the love department too. "It's funny."

"Am I missing something?" Lyla asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Just young love," he said, smiling at her. He tapped the clipboard. "Mine is this one."

"In a beer box," she said, her voice soft. However, her eyes were dancing and she was hiding a small smile, checking in the box and then wrapped a tag around it. She cocked her head, her voice quiet. "Tyra's a lucky lady to bid on that basket."

That comment had Becky turning away from trying to hide from Smith, who was still mooning at her, her head whipping over to Lyla. "Tyra?" she demanded. She glanced at him, frowning. "But I thought…"

"Forget it," he said, dropping Becky's basket on the ground, along with her shoe. He picked it up, shoving the sandal back into her hand, glaring at her. There was a confused look on Lyla's face, her gaze darting between them both, probably trying to figure it all together. Don't bring up Tyra around Lyla, he felt like saying, but hoped his point was still made. "Later."

"Tim! Wait up!" Becky shouted.

Nope. Not waiting up. He hurried away from her, walking around the corner of the stadium and right into Landry. "Hey," he said. Thank God, a friendly face. They'd actually been hanging out a bit since Landry had returned to Dillon a couple months ago, giving up his college life to play in a band. Billy even thought for a brief moment he wanted to be the roadie and manager, even going so far as to follow them to Berkeley. He pointed to the basket in the surly bandleader's arms "You're doing this stupid thing to?"

"Not willingly. Devon's going to bid on it and then go off with her girlfriend and give me fifty bucks, so I'm pathetic," Landry said, rolling his eyes. He glanced over at the gathering of people who were lining up for the bidding. "This is so archaic. Women bidding on baskets to go on dates with men?"

"Or on dates with women," he said, seeing as Landry's basket was going to Devin and her girlfriend. He flashed a quick smile. Maybe this was, what do you call it? A blessing in disguise. "Hey, Tyra's back in town. She hates my guts right now. Maybe she'll bid on it."

Landry rolled his eyes, scowling. "Don't be facetious."

"Fa-what?"

"Nevermind. Forget Tyra. I'm over Tyra. Tyra's going home alone."

Sounds like you are not over her at all, he thought like saying, watching Landry stomp off to check his basket in for the bidding. He rolled his eyes, walking away just in time to find Mindy storming towards him. Come on! I can't go two feet without someone bumping into me. And oh what fresh hell is this, he thought, waiting in place as she approached him, scowling look on her face and all, carting bags for babies and pushing the stroller with the twins. "Thanks a lot asshole!" she shouted.

"What'd I do now?" Oh he knew what he'd done.

She shook her head, her eyes narrowed. "No, no don't do that. You know what it is, to be honest I'm glad you guys aren't getting back together, I always hated it but I feel obligated to be annoyed at you because you hurt my baby sister again in favor of Lyla Garrity!"

What!? "I didn't do anything!"

"I don't care Tim, you could have just told her that you didn't want to be with her, not lead her along before she even had a chance to break up with you." Mindy squinted at him. She smiled slightly. "But it's okay. I'm a good big sister and I've got something all set up for you. To keep you away from my sister for good."

Well that didn't sound good at all. "Fine," he said. Whatever. And being the good little brother he was, he brought Billy into the mix. "But don't drag Billy into this. He really has no clue."

"Oh I'm not stupid, of course Billy has no clue." Mindy pushed Stevie towards him, the four-year old wiping his glasses on his t-shirt. "Here, watch this one for me while I go make sure that your brother hasn't fallen into the baskets searching for food like Yogi Bear."

How did this become my life, he wondered, holding his nephew on his hip as Mindy pushed the twins over towards the gathering area where the rest of the women were milling about before going to sit on the bleachers. He glanced at Stevie. The four-year old peered at him with magnified eyes from his red framed glasses. "Women are more trouble than they're worth," he said.

"Damn skippy."

True, but still. "Stop copying your father," he advised. He knocked lightly on Stevie's head. "You'll end up stupid." He carried him away, finding Luke approaching this time. He nodded. "Your girlfriend's other boyfriend has a basket he wants her to bid on, he's gonna' be heartbroken when she doesn't."

Luke groaned, hanging his head. "I'm competing with a 16-year old! How is that possible?"

"It's Dillon."

"Well I forbid her for even thinking of bidding on that kid's basket."

Uh-oh, Tim thought, stopping in his tracks. Luke turned his head, freezing as well. Becky squinted. "You forbid me?" she demanded. She placed her hands on her hips. Oh shit, he thought, eyes widening. Luke was in for it. She pursed her lips, taking a few breaths before smiling tightly. "That's sweet. You're so protective of me you have to forbid me." She cocked her head; waited a moment. Until she smiled wider. "Good luck today Luke." She turned around, flouncing away to go sit with Mindy and Tyra, who had just shown up and was looking in Landry's direction as he sat with the band.

Luke released a long breath he'd been holding. This was not good. "I'm dead, aren't I?"

"Should have stayed in Iraq man." He walked to the bleachers, taking a seat with Billy and the rest of the coaches. He glanced sideways, grinning at Coach Taylor, who he hadn't realized was in town. "You make a basket Coach?"

"I am no longer a resident of Dillon, Texas Tim Riggins, I do not have to participate in these inane Buddy Garrity fundraisers, schemes, and organized insanity."

He waited. "So yes?"

"It's the blue one," he grumbled.

Haha, he thought, chuckling. He looked around the bleachers. There were plenty of people he recognized and some he didn't. He narrowed his eyes on Julie and Matt, who were sitting with Tyra. What were they doing back? He looked over at Tami, who was walking up to sit beside Coach. "Hey Mrs. Taylor," he said in greeting.

"Hey there Tim! How are you sweetheart?" She leaned over, kissing his cheek and ruffled Stevie's hair. "Hello Stevie."

"Say hi to Mrs. Taylor," he said to the suddenly shy four-year old.

"Hi," the little boy said, hushed. He smiled at Gracie, waving. "Hi."

The five-year old waved back. "Hi."

"Ah, young love," Tami said dryly. She glanced at him, pointing to the baskets. "Do you have a basket up there Tim?"

"Yeah. No one's gonna' bid on it." Which just meant more beer for him later. He planned on drinking it alone anyway; maybe out by his pond. He was looking forward to it, believe it or not. He glanced to Tyra, who had shot him a quick smile. Julie waved, smiling as well. Uh-oh. Something was amiss. He scanned the crowd again. What was going on? There were more women looking at him. He poked Billy, sitting in front of him. "What's going on?"

"What's what?"

"All the women."

"They're crazed Tim. Hopped up on hormones and the prospect of dates." Buddy shrugged, not looking at him. Which meant something really was wrong. "And I don't know what you're talking about."

Yes you do. Tami just smacked him upside the head, telling Billy to hush and to watch his tone on the prospect of women. Whatever, he'd figure it out later. Tim lifted his head, the microphone crackling as Buddy stood up to begin emceeing the event as the auctioneer. He didn't trust anyone around him. Something was going on. He sat back, leaning on his elbows and watching through the shade of his sunglasses as people began bidding. He poked Luke in the ribs. "You're going to be in for it," he reminded him.

"I know," Luke moaned. He stood up, walking over him and hurrying to Becky, where he could be seen on his knees, probably trying to apologize. Too bad for you, Tim thought, looking at Buddy, who had Billy's box up on the table. Mindy bid on it a couple of times before some other woman tried to get in on that. "Not good."

"I'll say," Eric commented, witnessing the dark glare Mindy shot the other woman.

"Withdrawn!"

Billy released a sigh. "Thank God, Mrs. Evans just wanted me to put her son as first string linebacker."

"Sold! Mindy Riggins for twenty bucks!" Buddy shouted.

"Twenty bucks!" Billy echoed. "I'm worth more than that!"

"No, you're really not sweetie, I just got my money back for buying the stuff for this," Mindy said, holding her box and walking by him. She waved to Stevie, who made a move to get up off his seat. "You stay there with Uncle Tim sweetie. We'll get you later."

Thanks for the heads up that I'm babysitting, he thought, rolling his eyes. He moved so that Stevie and Gracie could sit together, both of them mooning at each other and wanting to share glasses. Stevie's were red and Gracie's were pink and black striped. Young love indeed. He leaned over his knees, smiling as Smith Gregson's basket popped up, the running back grinning at Becky and waving. In case she didn't already know, which she did, lifting her hand for a ten-buck bid. "This is horrible," Luke said, watching in horror as Becky continued to bid on the basket. He stood up, waving his arms. "Becky! I'm sorry!"

"Too bad!" she shouted, waving her hand again. "Twenty bucks!"

Luke grabbed at his hair. "Oh my God. This is awful. My fiancée is going on a date with a 16-year old."

"To be honest sweetheart she told me what you said and I don't blame her at all," Tami said.

Buddy slammed down his gavel. "Sold! Our star running back is going on a date with…" he lowered his sunglasses, squinting. "Becky Sproles! You're engaged to a soldier!"

Becky collected the basket, smiling sweetly. "An idiot soldier." She stepped aside, holding the basket as Smith mooned over her. She waved at Luke, blowing him a kiss. Cruel, Tim thought, shaking his head and glancing at Luke, who was whipping his head around, his eyes settling on a woman from the Landing Strip that Tim knew Becky hated. Uh-oh. Becky's gaze followed Luke's her eyes widening as the plan seemed to set with her. "No! I forbid you!"

"Too bad!" Luke shouted back. He patted Tim's shoulder. "Good luck man."

"I'd say you need the luck." Luke clearly had not thought this plan through. He shook his head. Dead man. Not only did he have Becky pissed at him for proclaiming he'd forbid her from doing something. He now was trying to even the score by getting one of the women she hated to bid on his basket. What the hell was wrong with him? He must have fallen out of an airplane too many times.

Even Coach Taylor, who normally kept his mouth shut on such matters, shook his head. "Poor kid. He's got to learn quick that the woman is always right."

"Damn skippy," Stevie echoed. Tim didn't even bother to tell him to stop copying Billy because he was right.

He perked up a bit when his box came up for auction, a few minutes later. "Whose is that?" Tami asked, her brow furrowed. She pushed her sunglasses up. "Is that a beer box?"

"We now have a…" Buddy glanced at the box. He cleared his throat. "Tim Riggins. Bidding starts as whatever he spent for the beer so five bucks."

"Hey! That's prime Lone Star there," he mumbled.

"Ten!"

"Fifteen!"

"Twenty!"

Tim looked around at the women. He shrugged, chuckling. After one bid forty, he glanced at Coach, laughing. "Don't they know that all that's in there is a couple of six-packs and a bag of stale Cheetos?"

"You're a real winner Riggins."

Another one bid fifty. Whoa. He thought he recognized her too…hey…he squinted at each of them, as Julie and Tyra were giggling in their places down in the front. Matt turned around and shrugged, looking apologetic. Oh man! Mindy! Damnit! They were all waitresses at the Landing Strip! Shit! I am not going out on a date with any of them! "Don't sell that basket!" he shouted, leaping over the bleachers and running out. This was a stupid idea but it was the first thing that popped into his head.

He skidded to a stop in front of Lyla, who was talking with some friends of hers he recognized from Dillon. He grabbed her arm. "What the hell are you doing?" Lyla demanded.

"I need you to bid on my basket, come on, hurry up!"

"What? Have you finally lost what little is remaning of your mind? I'm not bidding on your basket Tim." She stopped hard beside him when they reached the stage, her eyes widening as Buddy called out the next bid for $120. "$120!? Don't they know that all that's in there is two cases of beer and a stale bag of Cheetos?"

"How do you know that?"

"Because I know you, I'm not…" Lyla pointed to one of the women, frowning. "Isn't she a waitress at the Landing Strip?"

"Yes, that's the point, Mindy's trying to make sure I stay away from Tyra, which isn't hard because we're not together because we don't want to be, so please, please bid on my…" Tim trailed off as Lyla rolled her eyes, holding up her hand. He smiled wide. Yes! I worked! "Basket."

"$300."

Buddy stopped mid-sentence, shooting a dark look at her. "Lyla Garrity you are not spending $300 on Tim Riggins's box of beer."

"Daddy I dare you to tell me what to do again."

"Don't do it," Luke mumbled from his spot with everyone else, holding the basket as Becky's archenemy had her arm around him, grinning sideways. He nodded to Becky, who was scowling angrily. "It doesn't end well."

Well that's your own damn fault, Tim thought, glancing sideways at Lyla. Come on Garrity, I know it's been weird, but just do it. She held her hands out as Buddy hesitated, looking at the box and then to his daughter. "Daddy! Come on!" Lyla exclaimed. She pointed to the box. "$300, going once, going twice, sold!"

"Hey that's my line!"

Now what, he wondered, as Lyla stood off to the side, grabbing the box and nodded towards him to follow. He shrugged, walking off to wait with her before Buddy gave the go-ahead for everyone to leave. "You want to go now?" he asked. Where they were going, who knew. He glanced over at Landry who was talking with Matt, Julie bidding on Matt's basket that was up now.

"Yeah I guess," she said, leaving him to take the box. They walked away from the stadium and to his truck, where he set the box. She gestured towards it, quirking her lip up. "Did you seriously expect anyone to bid on that?"

He shook his head, chuckling. "Naw, hoped they wouldn't."

"So why did you participate in this? You hate any sort of…social event."

"Buddy asked." He opened up the passenger door for her. "Hop in."

Lyla glanced back to the stadium, where Tyra was walking off. Marching, more like, Landry following behind, surprised. She pointed, frowning in confusion. "That's…odd. I thought he hated her now after what she did to him?"

"I did too…" Oh well. He gestured to her to get in the truck. "Let's go."

"We're going to Fran's."

"Why?"

"So you can buy us something ot actually eat instead of two six-packs and a bag of stale Cheetos. Where'd you find these? Your old bedroom?" She pulled at the bag, laughing at the layer of dust. "Seriously?"

"Back of the pantry," he said with a small smile. This wasn't that hard. Probably wasn't as hard as it was going to be for Becky and Luke right now or even Tyra and Landry. Hell, he wanted an answer on that one. Tyra bid on Landry's basket? How'd she even know? And what the hell was Landry going to say to her? He was sure he'd hear about it tomorrow.

She smiled, looking out the window as they drove away. About an hour later, they had burgers, fries, and milkshakes, and were sitting out in the back of his house, by the pond, neither of them saying a word. Until Lyla crumpled up her hamburger wrapper, taking her bottle of beer and lifted it up, leaning back in her Adirondack chair. "To us."

He lifted his beer bottle, quirking his lip. "Serious?"

"Serious. To us, let's not let the past get in the way of anything again." She clinked her bottle to his, smiling, her voice quiet. "We're best friends Tim. We've always been and…whatever happens in the future…happens." She paused, sighing. "No more being awkward around each other and…and whatever again. Okay?"

He sipped the beer bottle, nodding and stood up, offering her his hand. "Come on."

"What are you doing?"

"Well we've had our date. You bid on the basket. Now it's my turn."

She turned in a circle as he twirled her arm above her head, smiling curiously at him. "Tim what…" she sighed as he tugged her against his chest, her eyes closing. "Oh shit." She lifted her eyebrows, trying not to smile. "I told myself I wouldn't do this with you when I came back."

No one said you have to. I certainly didn't think it would. He wrapped his arm tighter around her. "Thanks for bidding on the basket," he said, his voice soft. In more ways that one, he figured, thinking basket was a metaphor or something. He cleared his throat, trying to save it when she narrowed her eyes, not saying anything. Too serious. This was too serious. "I mean…I didn't really feel like sitting around the rest of the afternoon with a waitress from the Landing Strip."

That sort of worked, he thought, as she chuckled, ducking her head to look at her feet. She lifted her face, her voice quiet. "You still owe me $300."

"Fine."

"I can collect in other ways."

"Oh?"

She rose on her toes, kissing him softly. She smiled, his eyes widening briefly in surprise. I thought we weren't going to do this, he thought, as she turned around in a circle again, her arm above her head as he twirled her. "You owe me the equivalent of $300. Certain actions can equal a dollar amount."

Oh my. "This like your version of Pretty Woman or something?"

"Or something." She cleared her throat, arching her eyebrow. "My car is making a funny sound. The part alone is probably $50. I can say an hour of labor is equivalent to $20 or so." She flashed a smile. "You can make it up to me in no time."

Well that seemed only fair, he thought, rolling his eyes. "Fine. Deal."

She cocked her head, pursing her lips, studying him for another moment. "Are you really not with Tyra?"

"I'm really not with her," he said. He frowned briefly. Why did she care? "Why?"

"No reason." She reached up, wrapping her arms around his neck, smiling again as she leaned in, brushing her lips over his. She chuckled, ducking her head again. "Aw shit, I'm really in it this time. Swore to myself I wouldn't come to your rescue a couple of years ago, I wouldn't come back, wouldn't come back, I come back when I think we're all fine and here I am buying your damn basket. Geez Tim. Stay out of my life, alright?"

He spun her around, walking her down to the pond, laughing. "Damnit Garrity, I'm trying."

"Well try harder," she laughed. She tugged him against her, her eyes wild. Uh-oh, that was never a good thing. "I have a crazy idea."

"Well your crazy ideas usually end up with you crashing cars in your Daddy's dealership or cutting all your hair or something."

"It was pretty crazy to save your ass today, but this one might be the craziest yet."

He grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. "Talk to me Garrity." She just grinned.

* * *

This was a horrible mistake, Becky thought, sitting on a blanket beside a 16-year old. I'm 21, I'm five-years older than him and that's still not good, she thought, shaking her head. She could drink. He couldn't. She could get married. He couldn't. Basically she was free to do anything under the law except sit here beside him, damnit. She glanced at Smith, who was laying out the spread from his basket. "Um, Smith…I think this is a mistake, see I was in the heat of the moment and all…"

"I'm really older than my age is," Smith said. He offered her a cracker with some cheese spread on it. She wrinkled her nose. What the hell was that? "Brie?"

Brie? That sounded like a girl's name not a cheese. She swallowed hard, glancing over the football field where Luke was sitting on the bleachers, surly and angry as the Landing Strip whore who always stole her tips way back when, dove into the basket that had her favorite pretzels and the pop she liked and all the other things that Luke had planned with her in mind, including her favorite carrot sticks all cut up so they didn't look like weird fingers. Shit. She blew out a hard breath. She over-reacted. Like, really, really overreacted. He was an ass but she was just…she was all hormonal lately and…she wiped at her eyes. Now she was crying!

"Are you alright?" Smith asked. He frowned. "You're crying? Is it the olive and onion tapenade?"

She sniffed. "No, it's that I'm here with you and not my fiancé! And I feel so weird!" She waved her hand at her face, sniffing again. "I'm just all upset and crying and…and I don't know what's wrong with me!"

Smith laughed. "Sounds like my sister when she got pregnant."

Pregnant. Her eyes widened. Oh my God. She counted backwards in her head. Doing the math. She'd only ever done it once before and that turned out…oh my God. It was the same feeling. The same feeling as before. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet. She glanced down at Smith, pointing to him. "I will make this up to you…I am so sorry Smith, this looks great and I'm sure someone wants to eat it, but…I gotta' go!"

"But we haven't even gotten to the salami yet!"

We will never get to the salami, she thought, running off towards Luke. She stopped hard in front of a series of cheerleaders. "Hey," she said. She reached into her purse, removing a couple of bills. "Here is twenty bucks, go bid on Smith's basket between all three of you. He's the cute little one over there that thinks he's in Europe and not West Texas. Alright? Great."

She ran off, letting the girls fight over who was going to get the prime prize, skidding to a stop in front of Luke and the waitress, whose name was Ginger, if she remembered right. She pointed towards her. "You, stay there…Luke, I need to talk to you."

"We're fighting, remember, you went off with a 16-year old," he grumbled.

"Well you thought you could order me around so let's call it even, there's been a development!" she snapped. She grabbed his arm, ignoring Ginger's cry that she didn't bid on Luke's basket. She waved her hand at the other woman. "More for you! Luke, come on." She dragged him out of the football stadium to stand outside, her eyes wide. I didn't think this through. I need proof. She swallowed hard, narrowing her eyes. "I…I think we need to talk."

Luke tried to sound like he was still upset, but she knew him well enough to know it was just a show. For saving face or something. "Well yeah, I'd say so, I mean I'm not dating a teenager."

"You probably are, Ginger always lied about her age," Becky said, rolling her eyes. She swallowed hard, waiting a moment. "What you said was shitty."

He waited a moment before he suddenly grabbed her around her hsoulders, jerking her towards him. "OH my God Sproles I am so sorry! I was just bitching with Riggins I mean it's bad enough that I'm gone all the time and then I can't even keep up with a 16-year old who has the hots for you and I just…I know you can do whatever you want and if you want to string him along you can and I'm so sorry, I'm so, so sorry I would never forbid you to do anything, just…just don't kill me. I'm sorry!"

She laughed, grabbing his face. "Oh I'm sorry too! I love you! I just wanted to make you mad."

"You succeeded! And then you made me mad which was why I did that whole Ginger thing, but seriously Sproles, let's never fight again."

"No," she agreed. That was a false promise they would of course fight again, they weren't stupid. She took a deep breath, waving her hand at her face again to keep from crying. "We need to go to the drugstore."

He followed after her. "I thought we had to go get more food."

"Well yes, but we need to go to the drugstore first."

"Why?"

She took a deep breath, slowly releasing it as she took his hand in hers, walking to her car. "I'll explain in the car."

* * *

"This is so stupid! I'm sorry!"

"You know, I've forgiven you, I don't know what you want from me!" Landry shouted.

Tyra jabbed a finger at him. "You have not forgiven me, that's all I want, I want you to forgive me!"

He couldn't believe this BS he was hearing. He reached into the basket, removing a bag of cookies. He picked off a piece of the chocolate chip, looking up at Tyra, who was standing in front of him, looking sad and lost. Not his problem, he thought, biting into the cookie. He offered her the bag. "Want one?"

"No."

"My mom made them."

After a moment of fighting with whatever girl part prevented them from eating cookies willingly, she leaned in and broke off a piece, playing with it in her hands before she shoved it into her mouth. "Your mom makes good cookies," she mumbled through crumbs. She took another piece. "I always liked them."

Yes, I thought as much. He poked around the in basket, removing another bag. "Chicken salad. She made it from scratch. You like that, right?"

"Yes."

Fine. I don't know why I'm being nice. He leaned back on the dock. They'd gone to the lake, since she had done that stupid thing earlier and surprised the hell out of him, bidding on his basket before Devin had a chance to even realize what was going on. As he'd left all Devin had said was "don't cave." He knew she was just being supportive of him, since she was his best friend, but still. He wasn't planning on caving anything. For some reason this seemed to bother Tyra more than him. "You know I don't care if you don't feel better," he said. He took out another bag, this time filled with homemade potato chips. He loved his mom; she was the best cook. "Chip?"

She took a chip, but didn't eat it, her brow furrowed. "What?"

What part did you not understand? He shrugged, looking away. This was silly. He cleared his throat, hoping he could explain himself without looking like an ass. "Look, what you did? Not cool Tyra. You just dumped me in the middle of the road and you never took my calls. Coward." She opened her mouth, likely with excuses that she'd been prattling on about for the last half hour. He shook his head. "No, don't…don't. Let me finish." He took a deep breath. "It took awhile, but I forgave you for it. I don't understand why you did it, but I forgave you and I moved on and quite honestly, you're the one who seems like you're still hung up on me."

She scowled. "I am not."

"Tyra, I'm sorry you feel like you have to keep apologizing, to the point where you hijacked my basket at Buddy Garrity's stupid version of Oklahoma, but I don't…look, it's not my business if you feel better. I don't care either way if you feel good or don't feel good, I would prefer you feel normal and can move on yourself, because that's the kind of nice guy that I am, but honestly?" He shook his head again, biting into a chip, chewing for a moment. He swallowed and shrugged, glancing back at her again, his voice quiet. "I'm really sorry you feel you need to do this."

On the other side of the lake, he could see Matt and Julie. They were visiting his grandmother. They were married and happy. Enjoying the stupid basket. He plucked on the ribbon that his mom had wrapped the basket in. "I was supposed to be in college," he mumbled. He sighed. "Here I am, having my mom make a basket for my lesbian friend to bid on to share with her girlfriend and instead I'm with my ex-girlfriend who apparently is on this seeking forgiveness tour."

She blew out a hard breath, leaning forward over her knees. "Tim ended things with me."

That was the least of his worries. He rolled his eyes, pulling on the ribbon a little tighter. "So you want me to take you back or something because Riggins dumped you again? I told you that would happen, didn't I? Back in high school?"

"Yes," she mumbled. She shook her head, looking away over the lake again, sighing hard. "But…that's not it. I was going to dump him but he got there first is all. He's with Lyla."

"She bid on his basket, that's the rules."

"He went to find her to bid on the basket," Tyra said, smiling slightly. She shrugged. "Mindy got her friends to all bid on it to keep him busy and away from me. She's a good big sister like that. He freaked out but instead of coming to anyone else, even me, he went to the woman he's been running away from the last four days since she got back into town."

"Well that's Lyla's concern."

"Yeah and I know, but you know what I felt when he told me he was done?" She waited a beat before laughing and raked her fingers through her hair. "Oh my God I was relieved Landry. I was happy about it. Not happy he strung me along and then…" she trailed off, closing her eyes, whispering. "And then I thought of you and…and how I did that and how I've been living my life and I never even apologized for it." She glanced sideways. "It hurts and I'm so sorry."

Well that was something. It had been about four years, but…he had to admit it was nice to at least get an apology. Even if he truly had not thought about her throughout the years. Just once or twice and never in a hateful or lamenting sort of way. More like…oh I wonder what Tyra's up to now, type of thoughts. Usually only ever brought up because Matt and Julie mentioned her vaguely or something. "That's okay," he said. He reached into the basket and took out a bottle of water, opening it up and sipped. A moment passed and he chuckled. "How long have you been holding this in?"

"A long time," she laughed. She bit her lower lip, hanging her head slightly. Her hair was a deep brown, almost black. She tucked it behind her ear, gesturing towards it. "I know it's a change. I wanted one when I went to UT."

"Seems like you just wanted things different."

"And in the end it seemed like everything remained the same. If not backtracked," she said, chuckling. She groaned, closing her eyes. "I got back together with Riggins of all people…used him just like he used me, I guess that was something."

"Well we all make mistakes." He waited a moment. "I dropped out of college to go back to the band. Talk about a mistake."

Tyra laughed. "Julie told me you guys got a record deal in Berkeley."

"Recording deal, it's not a record." He smiled briefly, thinking about his friend Amber that he'd met there. He shrugged. "It was fun. We recorded a song professionally. Use it as a demo. Some people like it. We're going to Austin in a few weeks for this musical festival."

"South by Southwest?"

That would be nice, that'd solve all his problems. He laughed. "Um, hell no. Something much smaller and less important than South by Southwest, but it's still a big deal for us." He waited another moment, taking the bag of cookies again and held it up. "More?"

Tyra took another piece of cookie, tearing it apart in her fingers as she ate. She swallowed hard. "I'm just as confused as you. I'm graduating in about a month and a half. I have no idea what I'm doing. I just knew that I had to stop things with Tim and apologize to you and…and I don't know what else."

Well again, that was something. Landry broke another piece of cookie off. "Well apology accepted." He waited a moment, watching the relief wash over her face. He chuckled. "I didn't do it to make you feel better, but if it does make you happy, fine. I did it because I don't want to live with hate and discord between me and anyone else out there. Bad karma."

She laughed again, taking the last bit of cookie and held it up. "Well then. To forgivesness and…and not acting like a coward again."

"To that," he said, tapping cookie bits with her, laughing as it crumbled to the dock. "Whoops."

"That's good cookie," she laughed. She leaned into him, smiling softly. "I made a mistake with you. I know that now."

Well at least you know it. He shrugged. "We al move on. It's silly to expect that you'll stay with your high school girlfriend or boyfriend or whatever forever." He glanced at Matt and Julie, which was exactly where he saw Tyra's gaze head. "Well sometimes it works out."

Tyra rolled her eyes. "Or you get back together with them."

"Riggins and Lyla are not getting back together. He just needed someone to save him from Landing Strip waitresses. We're friends, I know this."

"You and Tim are friends?" she laughed. He narrowed his eyes. What was the problem with that? She shook her head. "I'm sorry, I just can't see it. What do you guys even talk about?"

"We drink together, we don't really talk!" He shrugged. "He's gotten better with age. Not as jock-like. He even reads. I gave him some books."

Tyra snorted. "I don't believe that."

"His favorite is Of Mice and Men, but that goes back a bit. He's reading The Great Gatsby now. He seems to understand the whole pining for a girl from afar bit while she's with another guy. He doesn't think I know, but I do." He poked through the basket for a few more seconds, unearthing a bag of brownies. His mom knew that Devin had a sweet tooth. Oh wait…Tyra made a move for the brownies, but he stopped her, shaking his head quickly. "Nope. Devin put these in there."

"What's the problem?" S he took a bite, shrugging. She frowned slightly. "These have a weird taste." She swallowed and took another bite, shrugging again. "They're good. What kind are they?"

"Spiced," he chose to say. He smiled behind his hand, watching as Tyra continued to eat the brownie. After a moment, he laughed. "Um, I think we should go find some more food."

"This is fine."

"You're going to be hungry in a bit."

She slowed down her chewing, still holding half the brownie in her hand. After a moment of his giggling, she stared at the brownie, her eyes widening. She dropped it immediately, screeching. "Oh my God! Why didn't you stop me!? Holy shit!" She licked at her napkin, yelling and jumping up, throwing the bag with the remaining brownie on him. "Oh my God Landry, this is so bad! I'm eating pot! I haven't done that since freshman year of college!"

He snorted; he'd gotten so many contact highs over the years with the band that it was ridiculous. This was hilarious. He gathered everything up and then took a large bite of the brownie, chewing it obviously for a moment before swallowing. He threw the rest of it in the basket with the other trash. "Come on. Let's go sit over there."

"We can't drive Landry, we're going to be high as kites in a moment."

"Once Matt and Julie are done they can drive us back." He trailed off a bit, slowing down as both Matt and Julie rushed towards them, waving their phones. "What's going on? What's the big news?"

Julie frowned at them both. "Are you guys okay? You look loopy." They both snorted, laughing. She arched her eyebrows. "Oookay then, whatever, at least you're friends again. Matt just got a text from Billy. Some big stuff is happening back in town, we're on our way to go find out what it is. Can you guys follow behind us?"

They both giggled again. He was starting to feel the effects. This was some quick-acting stuff. "We can't drive," he said, glancing at Tyra, who nodded quickly. He wanted to sleep. Now he was getting tired. "Wine."

"Yes," Tyra said, sobering up immediately and nodding slowly again. "It's the wine we had." She stole a glance at him, covering her mouth and giggling. She smiled, waving her fingers. "Thanks."

No problem, he thought, smiling at her. "Yeah, no problem."

Matt shook his head, confused, just like Julie. "At least you guys are talking. I don't want to know what got you there. Come on, let's get back to town."

They walked slowly behind Matt and Julie to their rental car. Landry stopped about halfway down, turning to look at her. Tyra smiled again. At least we're friends again, he thought, reaching to offer her his hand. "Friends?"

Tyra nodded, shaking his hand. "Friends."

"No talking about our significant tohers though. We're not that type of friend."

"No, definitely not."

"Or the kind of friends that Tim and Lyla are. Or that you used to be with him."

She nodded again. "No. We're not."

"We're just normal friends."

"Normal." She snorted, laughing and stumbled off. "Yeah, sure. We're normal Landry."

Well at least we could try, even though he wasn't sure he wanted to be, he thought, climbing into the backseat with her, poking through the basket. "Cookies!"

"Ooh, more cookies," Tyra drawled, taking a big piece of one. She bit into it, groaning. "So good! I'm so hungry."

"Me too." He reached for his phone, looking at it. He blinked a few times, hoping it wasn't the high. He wasn't sure if what he was reading was true. He turned it towards her. "That say what I think. I'm high."

Julie whipped around in her seat. "I knew it!" She grabbed the phone, her eyes widening even further. "Oh my God. Matt, step on it, there's some big stuff happening in Dillon and it's because of the Bid-A-Basket!"

"What's happening that's a direct result of the Bid-A-Basket other than Tyra and Landry aren't resenting each other anymore?" he wondered out loud. He glanced quickly at the screen, eyes widening. "Oh man."

"Yeah. Hit it."

Landry split the last cookie, tapping it against Tyra's half. "This is going to be fun."

"I'm just glad it's not me."

"Me too, for your sake."

* * *

"This is all your fault."

Tami surveyed what she'd created, smiling sideways at her husband. She tapped her plastic flute of champagne against his, nodding and glancing around at Buddy's bar. The remnants of various picnic baskets were scattered around the space, including hers and Eric's, and all in all, the slapped together party looked pretty good, with streamers and old Dillon Panthers decorations around. "I think we did something here. We put together a new couple."

Eric followed her gaze, rolling his eyes. "Gracie is going to be so upset to leave Stevie." The little kids were sitting together at a table, telling each other stories and giggling, clearly the best of friends. Gracie even had taken to walking around holding his hand.

"Well it was bound to happen, one of your daughters falling for a Riggins, as least he's the smart one of the bunch."

"True."

She cocked her head slightly, following people around the room with her eyes, landing on Tyra and Landry, who were demolishing a pizza. They both were smiling and laughing at something. "Those two are friends again." She tilted her glass towards Luke and Becky, who were both laughing as Becky refused alcohol. "Those two aren't telling anyone, but they're pregnant. This whole thing got them angry at each other and then happy again." She finally tilted her glass towards the couple spinning around on the dance floor. "And Buddy Garrity is going to kill me, not for the first time, for that."

Eric smiled, clinking his glass to hers again. "That was bound to happen again."

"I nudged it along, yes. I take full responsibility."

"You've seen the movie 'Oklahoma!' too many times."

"Buddy wanted a charity event to bring everyone together, I just gave him the bug. He took it to actual creation." She smiled at Tim and Lyla. It was an impromptu engagement party, the two of them already deciding that they'd get the marriage certificate in a few days. Maybe they'd change their minds. Maybe they'd regret it, but they were living life and it was fine to make mistakes in your early twenties. She glanced at Eric, chuckling at his narrow-eyed look. "Do you seriously think I meant for any of this to happen? I really didn't. To be honest, I think that Tyra and Landry should have done whatever it is they're doing over there years ago, I think that Becky and Luke are just on the same route they've always been on, but now they're on that route at the right time in their lives, and as for Tim and Lyla, well honey they are off and on as the wind changes, she could wake up tomorrow and be halfway down the road, I can't predict that. I'm just saying I gave Buddy Garrity the suggestion for this thing and the chips all fell where they may."

"That's the thing, you gave the suggestion, you should know Buddy Garrity is susceptible to suggestion."

"Buddy Garrity thinks this all is his idea," she laughed. She shook her head and leaned it against his shoulder, patting his chest. "It was fun, admit it."

"I just didn't like packing the basket."

"But you packed well. You know me."

He smiled, kissing the top of her head. "I do know you. I love you."

Tami peered up at him, her lip quirked. Yeah. "I love you too," she said. She rested her arm on his shoulder, leaning against it again. She darted her gaze towards Gracie and Stevie. She squinted as Gracie leaned in and kissed Stevie clean on the lips. "Gracie Belle Taylor! What are you doing girl?"

"Giving Stevie a kiss. We're married now."

Eric climbed off the table. "Oh hell no you're not. We're leaving."

"Aw shucks," Stevie complained.

Tami had to agree. She waved at Buddy. "Bye Buddy, we'll see you next time! Tim, Lyla sweetheart, congratulations on your engagement, sorry we'll miss the wedding." She waved goodbye to everyone else, hugged and kissed them all, and left, feeling rightfully exhausted. She patted Gracie's shoulder. "Sweetie don't worry, you'll see Stevie again."

She sniffed. "I hope so." She smiled wide. "I want to make a basket. For Stevie."

"We'll make him a little care package when we get home. You can send him a letter or something," she suggested. She glanced at Eric, who was frowning again. "What?"

"Don't egg her on with a Riggins."

"It's cute."

"It is not cute, I do not want a Riggins as a son-in-law, I avoided it this long."

"Well she's five so I think you have some time left," she chuckled. She patted his shoulder. "Come on. We'll be back next year. Buddy wants to make this an annual thing. He said they raked in a ton of a cash for the new training facility."

"Well good for them."

She smirked. Buddy would probably forget this idea come next year. Especially since it hadn't worked out so well in his favor, getting his daughter back together with her ex-boyfriend. In the long run though it all seemed to work out, according to her at least.

About a year later, she sat on the bleachers, frowning as Gracie marched up with her five dollars to pay for the small basket that Stevie had made for her, the two of them taking hands and walking off together. Hmm, she thought, squinting. That didn't really work out so well now did it? "I thought they'd have forgotten each other," she said. It was really sweet though, how much they'd insisted on staying in touch.

"And I thought that Tim and Lyla would be divorced by now," Buddy bitched from beside her. He groaned. "But they're moving to Stanford. Lyla's gonna' get her Master's degree or some such thing and Tim's going with her. They're going to get a house with an avocado tree. Have you ever heard of such a silly thing?"

"It's just a tree Buddy," Eric said.

"It's a sign."

Of what, she wasn't sure. She poked Buddy Garrity in the shoulder. "Well I just suggested it. We did this for one of the event at Braymore and it worked out perfectly, it was so much fun. You're making cash but you're also meddling in relationships. You should expect it to not work out in your favor at least once."

Buddy mumbled, his head in his hands. "Stupid baskets."

Tami grinned, glancing at Eric. Hey, at least it was fun, she thought, laughing.

**THE END**


End file.
